I Got My Knee Checked Last Week. Since Last 18

Posted on Tue, 6 Oct 2020

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 6 Oct 2020 Answered on

Sun, 8 Jun 2025 Last reviewed on

Question : I got my knee checked last week. Since last 18 months, after initial incident of feeling some thing cracking in my right knee, on and off I have gotten pain and swelling with simple leg shake or waking up in some leg position. Last week, I shook my leg because of a biting mosquito and felt a sharp pain as two thick strands of cartilage was rubbing against each other. Since then the amount of swelling has been a lot and did not come down for a long time. MRI revealed two suspended objects inside the knee system, which my doctor has suggested to get out using arthroscopy. I guess I am looking for reason why this happened, or how this happened and how can i avoid in future or increase my knee strength.

Follow up: Dr. Aashish Raghu (2 minutes later)

Also, post surgery, what do's and dont's to expedite recovery and how much average recovery time can i expect to be able to drive car and walk normal and light exercise.

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Answer

Detailed Answer:
Hi there

Thanks for the query

These symptoms and according to what your Doctor has told you is a reference to Loose bodies in the joint.

Loose bodies can be pieces of broken cartilage and bone from the knee which can occur due to previous trauma to the knee. Since there are now gaps in your cartilage due to the broken off loose bodies, this can be a cause of the knee pain due to arthritis.

Once the loose bodies are removed by Arthroscopy, a clearer picture of the knee can be understood via the camera. It is then your doctor can advise you of the prognosis asks how long it will take to recover.

Usually arthritis does not recover but you need to do physiotherapy and he within normal BMI to get relief. It's possible severe arthritis will need Total knee replacement for complete relief, although this is one of the options.

Thanks and regards.

Aashish Raghu

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana